The Canadian Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accused of lying about not being able to stop a massive US$12 billion armoured vehicles sale with Saudi Arabia that was approved by a previous Conservative government in 2014.
The new government had claimed since it came to power in November that the sale was a “done deal” and that it could not do anything about canceling it because it would involve large financial penalties and loss in jobs.
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However, documents released this week by the justice department in response to a lawsuit seeking to block the deal showed foreign minister Stéphane Dion signed crucial export permits only last Friday.
“The government lied to Canadians about who signed what when in the Saudi arms deal, and that is a very serious matter,” the head of the country’s left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP) Thomas Mulcair said.
Canadian media also published excerpts saying Dion was advised the sale of the vehicles equipped with machine guns and antitank weapons would help Riyadh in its efforts at “countering instability in Yemen” and fighting the Islamic State group.
According to the World Health Organization more than 6,500 people have been killed in Yemen, half of them are civilians, since the beginning of the Saudi-led operation there in March 2015.
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Responding to the new revelations, Dion said Wednesday that similar weapons systems sold to Saudi Arabia since 1993 had been used responsibly.
“The best and updated information indicates that Saudi Arabia has not misused the equipment to violate human rights,” he told reporters. “Nor has the equipment been used in a manner contrary to the strategic interests of Canada and its allies.”
However such arguments contradict findings by many aid organizations and human rights groups monitoring the conflict. The United Nations accused the Saudi coalition in Yemen of war crimes, crimes against humanity and targeting of civilians.